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Companion
bills to repeal the Congressional Review Act and give agencies a way to reissue previously
overturned rules were introduced May 16 by House and Senate Democrats.

Once an obscure, 20-year-old law, lawmakers made full use of the statute when the
unexpected opportunity arose and Republicans won control of the White House and Congress
in the last election.

The CRA essentially is a fast-track way to repeal regulations issued by federal agencies
in the last months of a president’s final year. The law also prohibits agencies from
issuing a rule that is substantially the same as the rule that was repealed.

Republicans voted to repeal 14 rules issued in the last half of 2016 under the Obama
administration. Of those, 13 were signed into law by President Donald Trump and the
14th is awaiting his signature.

Message to Republicans

With no Republican co-sponsors, the bill introduced by Democrats to repeal the CRA
has virtually no chance of passage. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have
strongly embraced Trump’s deregulatory agenda.

Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
introduced the Sunset the CRA and Restore American Protection (SCRAP)
Act in the Senate, while Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and House Judiciary Committee
Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced the bill in the House.

The CRA allows Congress to quickly overturn recently issued agency rules – many of
which were years or decades in the making – by bypassing the regular legislative process,
the lawmakers said in a joint statement.

“Once a rule is reversed by the CRA, an agency can never reissue a substantially similar
rule unless specifically authorized to do so under a new law,” the statement said.

Consequences of Repeal

Since February, Republicans have used the CRA to roll back a wide range of public
health, environmental and consumer protections to the benefit of special interests,
the lawmakers said.

For example, it is now easier for internet service providers to collect personal information
from consumers, businesses to hide workplace dangers from workers and states to discriminate
against family planning providers, they said.

“Abuse of the CRA has allowed congressional Republicans to fast track the repeal of
a host of protections that benefit everyday Americans with little notice or public
debate,”
Booker said.

Public Interest Group Endorsement

The legislation was immediately endorsed by Public Citizen, a public interest organization
that is fighting Trump’s deregulatory agenda.

Corporate predators, polluters and profiteers who would have been reined in by these
rules are now free to abuse, exploit and discriminate, knowing they won’t be held
accountable, Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, said in a statement.

“That’s why the CRA must go and the repealed protections--especially those ensuring
the safety and health of American workers-–must immediately be restored,”
Weissman said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cheryl Bolen in Washington at
cbolen@bna.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Hendrie at
pHendrie@bna.com

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